hospiticide

English

Etymology

From Latin hospiticīda or *hospiticīdium, from hospes (“host, guest”) + -cīda (“killer”); equivalent to +‎ -cide.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hŏspĭʹtĭsīd, IPA^(key): /hɒˈspɪtɪsaɪd/

Noun

hospiticide (countable and uncountable, plural hospiticides)

1. (rare) One who kills his guest or host.
   • 1837, Edward Smallwood, Manuella, the Executioner’s Daughter ; A Story of Madrid, volume II, pages 275–276:

     Armed with the weapon which was destined to destroy himself, Imnaz sprang down the ladder, — found the door, and, emerging from the abode of crime, sought a more secure resting place, leaving his hostess to discover, with return of day, in whose blood were imbrued the hands of an hospiticide.

2. (rare) The act of a guest killing his host or vice versa, or an instance thereof.
   • 1837, Edward Smallwood, Manuella, the Executioner’s Daughter ; A Story of Madrid‎^[1], volume II, page 261:

     Anniversary of the Massacre of the Prado — the Defeat of Quesada — Murderous Reprisals — Hospiticides.

References

• (one who kills a guest or host): Glossographia; or, a dictionary interpreting the hard words of whatsoever language, now used in our refined English tongue by Thomas Blount (1656)
• (act of a guest killing a host or vice versa): A Dictionary of Words and Phrases Used in Ancient and Modern Law by Arthur English (1987; Wm. S. Hein Publishing; →ISBN, page 423